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> Hi All,
> I just received my schedule for next year and am teaching basically Art1, Art2 Art3 and AP Art in one class! >

I have taught multiple levels at one point (but worked really hard that it didn't happen again, and it didn't). What I need to know is how many of each level DO you have in the one class. What I basically did was this: AP (which we didn't have, but had what we called Open Studio), were on their own, using me as a facilitator. Met once a week with them as a "group" for critiques and for checkpoints.

Art 1, 2 and 3 I taught like Art 3 (our classes are named differently and are not like that, we have semester classes, with only the Open Studio being a year). In other words if I set up a still life they would all be working on a still life, but the beginning classes would be doing one thing with it, the secondary levels would be doing something else. I divided my curriculum into concepts, and "areas", so we would all be focusing on the same thing. Still Life, Face, Body, Perspective, Landscape, Color Theory, and overlapping those areas would be the elements and principles of design. So to go to my Still Life Example (and AP could certainly work off the same still life). AP might have to write a thesis statement on vanitas and present their work as such, Art 1 might just be learning how to draw so that I would be focusing on line and proportion, Art 2 and 3 would be emphasizing proportion, composition and value. Then I would critique them all together, and each level kid would learn from the others' work.

San D

p.s. I don't know how your classes get kids in them, but I recruited all year heavily via personal interaction, bulleting boards and showcases to make sure there were enough kids in each level that they didn't have to split the levels in classes.